50°22′14.999″N 3°4′45.001″E / 50.37083306°N 3.07916694°E / 50.37083306; 3.07916694The siege of Douai, which lasted from 22 April 1710 until the capitulation of the garrison under lieutenant-general François Zénobe Philippe Albergotti on 25 June 1710 was part of the Allied Campaign of 1710 in the War of the Spanish Succession.

At the start of the new campaign season of 1710 of the War of the Spanish Succession the Allies hoped to be able to break through the double line of fortresses (the frontière de fer or iron border) that had protected northern France since 1708 to be able to finally march on Paris.

On the advice of Quartermaster General Daniël van Dopff Marlborough decided to start the campaign with the siege of the strong fortress of Douai, with its important arsenal and gunpowder mills.

Initially it proved difficult to control the (for the time) enormous mass of soldiers of 165,000 men and to prevent looting and disturbing the populace.

So the commanders promulgated severe punishments for soldiers who contravened the articles of war on 23 April 1710 (incidentally, the day the siege of Douai was opened), and this proved successful.

The supply of the army was an enormous undertaking: each day 1500 carts with the bread for the troops had to depart from the bakeries in Lille and Tournai (both in Allied hands at this time).

The besieging force under the technical direction of engineer general Guillaume le Vasseur des Rocques and the tactical command of the Princes of Orange[c] and Anhalt consisted of 40 battalions and 32 squadrons, 70 siege guns and 80 mortars.

They succeeded in partially destroying the parallel trenches near that gate, before they were driven back by the troops of brigadier Macartney who pursued them to the counterscarp.

[6] The next day the prince of Anhalt brought up eight kartouwen against a redoubt on the southwest side of the city that had been firing on the neighboring trenches making many casualties under the laborers.

[e] Marlborough and Prince Eugene visited the siegeworks on a daily basis to inform themselves of the progress, but they could not hurry along the pace of events.

The fieldworks were made ready to hold artillery, including heavy siege guns to cover the field of fire.

[g] They concentrated their army near the village of Esquerchin, and improved the roads from that location, to either prepared battle site, and put several new bridges across the Scarpe, to make swift movement possible.

Villars then decided that the approach from the direction of Arras would be more advantageous, so he crossed the Scarpe on several places on 28 and 29 May to travel to that city, where he concentrated his army in the next few days.

In all haste 20 battalions from the besieging troops of the Prince of Orange were also directed to the front line, to reinforce the field army.

Villars rode with his staff to Bernard to reconnoitre the opposing dispositions and the Allied fieldworks, which may have made him a bit uncertain.

[16][j] During the period in which Villars made his threatening movements the siege had been more or less on hold, as the detachment of the Prince of Orange troops to the front had weakened the besieging forces significantly.

Quartermaster general Van Dopff preferred to invest Arras instead, because in that case Villars would be forced to engage in an open battle, as he had just narrowly avoided near Douai.